Brothers, I show my cards, I am a pure slave of the two-dimensional painting style. When I first got involved in a certain RPG that was said to be "the ceiling of the industry", it was because the silver-haired and red-eyed miko sister in the promotional picture was too annoying to me. What was the result? The combat system was made to me like clocking in at work. Combinations of moves were all based on muscle memory. The boss battle was like a long QTE marathon. My fingers almost turned into Parkinson's disease. In the end, the plot gave me a knife and killed my beloved miko sister... Is this reasonable? This is just like in "A Certain Scientific Railgun", Meiqin finally managed to open the seven-stage railgun, but the opposite person was a rubber man. Are you telling me that this is a hammer? 😭
So when I clicked on "Escape Room Series 7: The Ancient City of the Incas", my first reaction was actually: Oh, there is something special about this style of painting. It's not the fancy celluloid light and shadow, nor the high-priced Holy Light and Shadow Priest, but the dark-toned hand-painted style with an ancient sense of mystery. The fangs of trolls, the scales of snakes and dragons, and the mottled lines on the stone pillars of the ruins. Every screenshot can be used as a wallpaper. Do you know that feeling? It's the kind of cruel yet beautiful alternate world in "From the Abyss". Although it's dangerous, you just can't help but want to go inside. 🌋
As for the gameplay? To be honest, what I am most afraid of as a combat veteran is the "Action God" style hand speed test. But this game is pure and simple. Its core is puzzle solving and exploration, and the combat is not so hard-core. What you have to do is to follow the guidance of your companions and go deep into the ancient Inca city, while collecting those stone talismans engraved with strange patterns to activate the passage to the lair of the mastermind behind the scenes. The preview of the legion's burning and killing in the guardian sphere, coupled with the low drumbeat in the background music, really makes you feel like you are watching the eve of the "Fourth Holy Grail War" with your own eyes. The tension is directly high, but it does not make you panic.
Moreover, the "mysterious man you defeated" in the plot has returned again, bringing with him a revenge army composed of trolls, snakes, dragons, and beasts - isn't this the classic royal blood unfolding? Like in "Naruto", Naruto has to face Obito after defeating Pain. You think it's the end, but in fact it's just the beginning of a new chapter. Although the combat system is "just as long as I can get through it" for me, in order to see the ending of the "second confrontation", I still willingly walked around the map three times to touch the talisman. After all, who can refuse to be a narrator who saves the world in the ruins of the ancient Inca city? 🗿
Finally, to summarize: If you are also a casual player who is obsessed with the style of painting, has a satisfying plot, and can "auto-play" the battles, then "The Ancient City of the Incas" is definitely worth a try. Not because of how amazing the gameplay is, but because of the immersive foreign atmosphere, which really reminds people of the endless reverie about unknown ruins when they were sitting in front of the TV watching the ancient chapter of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" as a child. Anyway, I opened the next chapter with great pleasure while cursing "Why is this organization so hidden?" 😌
The above is a sincere recommendation from a two-dimensional otaku who can make three bowls of rice as long as the graphics are good, even if the gameplay is terrible.